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Bangladesh – attacks

December 2015

Three men pretending they wanted to learn about Christianity attacked a Bangladeshi pastor in his home with a knife on 5 October.

According to a report from advocacy organisation Barnabas Fund, Pastor Luke Sarker, aged 52, survived the attack with minor injuries, but, in separate attacks, two foreigners were killed in October by suspected Islamist jihadists.

About two weeks ago, the men had called Pastor Sarker and asked him if they could come to visit him, because they wanted to know more about Christianity.

When they arrived at his home in Bangladesh’s north-western Pabna district, three men, aged 25-30, attacked him with a knife and attempted to slit his throat, said police official Siddikur Rahman.

Pastor Sarker’s wife and neighbours came to his rescue, as he shouted. The men fled, leaving their motorbike at the house. He later received five stitches at a local hospital for his injuries, a local Christian told Barnabas.

Bangladeshi police suspected that the attackers may be members of a Muslim extremist group and on 6 October arrested a man at his home, in connection with the incident.

Several churches were destroyed last year, and in February a local mob attacked a Christian couple after they were baptised in northern Bangladesh. The incident was reported to the police, but the mob later returned to attack the Christian cell group leader who had baptised the couple.